Cole still holds warm place in Elmore's heart East Regional notebook

COLLEGE PARK -- It should be old hat to an old pro like Len Elmore, but the former Maryland All-American center can't help feeling a little nostalgic every time he walks into Cole Field House.

"Things have certainly changed," said Elmore, who will analyze today's quartet of games in the East Region of the NCAA tournament here for CBS-TV.

"You look at the floor and it's different, but it's still a great place and I have a lot of great memories here."

Elmore, who gave up a prosecutor's job in New York City to pursue more broadcasting opportunities, says North Carolina State's familiarity with the Cole court shouldn't give it an edge over the seven other teams in this subregional.

"If you're proficient on the road, this shouldn't matter," said Elmore. "Southern Mississippi [the Wolfpack's first-round opponent] is 11-5 on the road this year. They know what it takes to win."

Elmore thinks Syracuse, the region's second seed, should survive this weekend's games here and advance to next weekend's regional semifinals in East Rutherford, N.J., provided that the Orangemen take their task seriously.

"They've got all the talent. If I were the coach, I would not let them off the hook one bit. The worst thing that could happen to Syracuse is if they play [Richmond] close for 30-35 minutes. Those last five to 10 minutes can become a living hell."

* ON THE MARK: There's no such thing as a bad shot in Temple's offense as long as it's Mark Macon taking it. At least that's the perspective of coach John Chaney, who has said, "I'd rather have my best player take a bad shot than my worst player take a good shot."

In that vein, Macon launched an unanswered 40-foot prayer at the buzzer in a 52-50, Atlantic 10 tournament loss to Penn State last week. Three defenders were on him, and other teammates were open. The night before he banked a three-pointer off the glass with two seconds left to beat West Virginia, 56-53.

Even though Macon is a career 42 percent field goal shooter at Temple, he is the school's all-time leading scorer. And Chaney will abide no criticism of his star.

"Mark Macon is one of 40 people who have scored over 2,500 points," Chaney said. "People ask what has happened [to him]? Nothing has happened. He has become a better player. A great player is one who makes all around him better. That is what he has done for us."